The town of Bethune recently received an $8,000 Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) Grant town leaders said brings a fundraising effort to buy a programmable message sign for the town to its $25,000 goal.

Family, friends and peers are mourning the passing of 17-year-old Robert Edmond "Drew" David IV from injuries he received in a one-vehicle crash Monday evening. The Kershaw County School District (KCSD) said Drew would have soon been entering his senior year at Camden High School (CHS) and was a popular member of the Bulldog football and baseball teams.

There are so many aspects of our lives we have practically no control over. It makes us feel better to think we're in control, but the truth is we very seldom are. Even when we do have some measure of control over our fate, there are other factors and forces which can have just as great, or even more, influence on us.

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recently awarded a $350,000 grant to Lugoff Fire-Rescue (LF-R). The grant will be used to hire a career firefighter to serve as the LF-R's volunteer firefighter recruitment and retention coordinator.

An Elgin couple has been arrested on numerous charges after Elgin Police determined they falsely reported the theft of $12,000 worth of jewelry from their home and collected an insurance settlement for the case.

The West Wateree Community Playground project has surpassed its fundraising goal and will break ground in late August. Playground Steering Committee Chair Laurey Carpenter made the announcement to Kershaw County Council during its meeting Tuesday evening. The state-of-the-art playground is being funded entirely with private donations and grants, with no tax money requested nor offered. Council voted last year to provide the space for the playground at the West Wateree Athletic Complex along U.S. 1 between Lugoff and Elgin.

With drought conditions continuing to plague the South Carolina Upstate and Midlands, Duke Energy is asking residents along the Catawba-Wateree river and lakes systems to conserve water usage. Duke is asking for voluntary restrictions to landscape watering by limiting such irrigation to Tuesdays and Saturdays.

The world, and life in general, is filled with sadness, despair, hopelessness, hatred, evil, negativity and sorrow of all kinds. Sorry to be such a downer, but it's simply a fact. There's a lot of bad feelings, attitudes and emotions we all face every day, from others and even from within ourselves.

The Kershaw County Sheriff's Office (KCSO) bloodhound team located a missing elderly Cassatt man near his home Sunday. According to a KCSO press release, deputies were notified around 11 a.m. of the 84-year-old man's disappearance. They also learned he suffered from health problems.

Kershaw County Council will receive a final update on the Community Playground Project between Lugoff and Elgin during its meeting Tuesday evening. The playground is being funded completely by private donations and will be built on land provided by county council at the West Wateree Athletic Complex on U.S. 1.

With Kershaw County growing at a steady pace, the county government is looking to the future and asking for citizen input on priorities and concerns for the next 15 years and beyond. State law requires counties to have a comprehensive plan and update it every 10 years. Kershaw County Planning and Zoning Department Director Carolyn Hammond said she and county planners realize their role as public servants and want to know in which direction county residents and taxpayers want to go.